Chapter 10

©2010 A. Jane

The following day…

Meria kept looking at her watch, panic growing with each hour that passed. It was closing in on four o’clock, ten minutes left, and the end of the afternoon service. The problem stemmed from the fact she didn’t know exactly when her mother would arrive as per her threat. She didn’t dare hope that her mother had underestimated the time she needed to travel to Oak’s Holm—it usually took her mother well over a week to get ready to go anywhere.

She jumped when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. She spun around, her hand over her heart. Seeing a familiar face didn’t ease the fright. “Oh! Dewi, you scared me.”

“I can see that. What’s wrong?”

“My… My mother may show up today. She threatened to, but…” She looked at her watch again, then looked out the pub door. “When the job for a teacher opened here, I jumped at the chance to get away from her. I mean, I may have had my own apartment, but we were in the same city and she would stop by without warning or invite. And now she’s going to come here and try to drag me back because she doesn’t like that I’m dating Fidgen.”

“How did she find out you’re dating Fidgen? I’m assuming you wouldn’t call her up and inform her.”

“This girl that Fidgen knew from University—we ran into her at the concert the other day—called Mother up. At least we think it was her. She wasn’t happy when he didn’t show any interest in her.”

“I take it she’s one of those vengeful types?”

“Apparently so.” She looked again at the pub’s entrance, fretting.

“Is Fidgen supposed to meet you at the end of your shift?”

“No, he has lessons until five today—to make up from taking me to the concert. I was thinking of waiting here until then. I don’t want to go home in case she shows up before he comes home. For all I know, she’s already there.”

“If you like, I can walk you home and then wait with you.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“As Alpha it’s my responsibility to make certain those under my care are cared for. That goes double for family. And you’re family. Besides, if your mother does show up, I can be properly intimidating if she attempts to drag you away.”

“I… I’d like that. It’s not that I’m afraid of my mother, but… I have such a hard time standing up for myself around her.”

He put his hand on Meria’s shoulder. “I understand. I’m going to go tell Neak, then I’ll walk you home. In the meantime, finish your shift, gather the rest of your tips.”

Meria nodded and returned to work.

Dewi shook his head, hating to see the Sparrow’s anxiety. This is a time when she should be overjoyed, not upset. Walking over to the door to the living quarters, the Tree let him through and he took the stairs two at a time, rushing to see Neak. He grinned; he couldn’t help it. In three more days, he would prove to her that she was his mate. She was still concerned over whether he would go into his half-state or not. He didn’t care either way, because it didn’t matter. She was his mate because he loved her.

He stood in the doorway and watched her playing Solitaire. The Dew Drops weren’t around, giving him hope that they were working out their latest argument, and Sabelle was in her own room napping. Neak screwed her face up in disgust and threw the cards down, scattering them. Oh yeah, he loved her.

“I don’t think that’s how the game is played, Miss Neak.”

“Stuff it, wolf boy.” She looked over at the Lobo and blew a raspberry at him. “What do you want? It’s not yet four.”

“It will be in a few minutes. Besides, I’m the boss, I can make my own hours.”

“If you think I’m going to kiss you…”

His eyes lit as he smiled broadly. “Is that a dare?”

Neak sighed. “Are you going to give me that sad-eyed look until I do?”

“No.” He walked into the room. Climbing onto the bed, he leaned in, his hands on either side of her body, and kissed her. “I’m just going to kiss you.”

“Pain…” She gave him her own kiss then shoved at him with her good arm trying not to smile. How he put up with her, she didn’t know, especially in the mood she had been in since waking up confined to a bed for the next week. “Why are you here?”

He sat back on his haunches, laughter lining his face. He was planning to steal another kiss before he left the room. “Apparently Meria’s mother threatened to drag her home the other day and so I’m going to walk Meria to her cottage, keep her safe until Fidgen finishes his lessons at five.”

“She didn’t mention that.”

“She probably didn’t want to upset you. I think she also didn’t want to think about it.” He swooped down and kissed her before climbing off the bed. “You stay in bed and I’ll be back soon.”

“Bah! You’ll have to let me out of this bed soon.”

“Not if I can help it.”

“I’m feeling better, Dewi.” Her lower lip stuck out. “Could I at least sit at the bar and visit with everyone?”

“Nope. A week.”

“Why are we only finding out about this now!?” Taeva Silverplum appeared in the room with her mate, Remyl, at her side. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her green eyes livid. She caught sight of the Lobo standing over her great granddaughter and she turned her ire on him. “Who the hell are you?”

Dewi blinked seeing the older Tree Nymph who looked much like Neak and the towering grey-eyed man next to her. So, that’s where Neak got her eyes, which meant she had Lady Arbor’s eyes. “Dewinar Melodyhowl, Alpha of Oak’s Holm and mate to Neak.”

“Excuse me?”

“GiGi, Grampy, what are you doing here?” Neak started to toss her covers aside, but Dewi stopped her.

“Don’t even think of getting out of this bed, Nymph.”

“Dewi…”

“No.”

She sat back with a puff of breath, glaring at him. “I just wanted to hug them.”

“Too bad. You nearly fell on your face this morning just walking to the bathroom.”

A loud whistle sounded and Neak and Dewi both turned towards the sound. Taeva looked at both expectantly. She pointed at Dewi. “Explain yourself. Oak’s Holm is a Sacred Grove, there is no Alpha.” She then pointed at Neak. “And you, why did I just learn an hour ago of Virgo blasting you when it happened two days ago?”

“Uh…” Neak bit her lip.

Dewi cleared his throat. “Oak’s Holm is…”

“No, Dewi,” Neak put her hand on Dewi’s arm, “let me. You walk Meria home.”

Dewi looked at the couple standing at the foot of the bed. “I don’t care who you are, upset Neak and you will have a very pissed off Lobo on your hands. She is to stay in that bed and I will know if she’s left it.” He turned back to Neak and kissed her once more. “I’ll be back in an hour or so. Call me if you need me.”

Taeva watched the Lobo leave and then returned her gaze to Neak. “Explain…”

“It’s nice to see you, how long are you planning to stay?” Neak asked instead. “You’ll need to take a room at the Inn if that’s the case, we have no rooms here at the moment and it would take the Tree several days to add any new rooms.” Though she did think it would be a good idea to ask it to do so anyway.

Taeva raised a brow. “No rooms? The Tree had plenty the last time we were here.”

“They’re all occupied. Don’t worry, the Inn is quite nice; it’s run by the Barleyweald brothers. They’re Mages. Class Six I think, although they could be Class Seven. I know the number started with an S.”

“How are all the rooms occupied?”

“There are five of us living here in the Tree—Me and Dewi, his cousin, Oben, their niece, Sabelle, and now Isabee, who’s carrying Oben’s pups, plus two Dew Drop Fairies, though Tree made them their own little quarters up in the branches.”

“This is a Sacred Grove, there should not be others living here unless they are Silverplums and as you and I are the last Silverplums…”

“All Fairy types are permitted to live in the Sacred Groves.”

“I wasn’t talking about the Fairies, I was talking about the Lobo and I assume his cousin and niece are Lobos, as well as this Isabee. They are not Silverplums and have no…”

Remyl put his hand over his mate’s mouth to keep her from starting an argument with Neak. He could see the light of battle in his great granddaughter’s eyes and she was more fierce than his mate when words were crossed. “You wouldn’t be breaking any Sacred Grove laws would you?”

“Nope, not in the least. But I would like to point out, that Sacred Grove Law allows the caretaking Nymph a mate and a family. Dewi is my mate and the others are my family.” Neak raised her brows when Taeva attempted to speak. “I can get a copy of the manifest if you like.”

“Enough!” Remyl shouted. “Neak…”

“Not that any of it matters, Oak’s Holm lost its Sacred status five years ago. Then three years ago, Dewi and Oben bought it.” She smiled at her great grandfather. “Grampy, you should have a look at the trees, happy can’t begin to describe their mood since they no longer need to be herded into any sort of formation. Even the Great Oak is less grumpy. He made friends with the Dew Drops and plays with them regularly.”

“Wait. How did the Grove lose its Sacred status?”

“Virgo’s Secretarial Pixie. I’m quite certain she was working with Justice’s Secretarial Pixie. Not sure exactly what their motivation was, but it goes back to those two, guaranteed. Got me called in for jury duty and then convinced Virgo I wanted a transfer to The Capitol.”

“Is this why you challenged Virgo?”

“I didn’t challenge Virgo. I was going to blackmail her so she would accept Toff and Ruby as a couple. Virgo—who I have mentioned many times before, is batshit insane—hates Ruby for some reason. She doesn’t care that Toff loves her, or that Ruby loves Toff.”

Taeva finally shoved Remyl’s hand down and spoke in a rush, “I told you befriending a Divinity would only get you into trouble.”

“This from the Nymph who mated with a Divinity.”

“This isn’t about me. You could have been killed.”

“I do believe that I was and that Lady Arbor brought me back. I’m quite sure I remember walking towards a bejeweled door.” She hadn’t wanted to go, had wanted to stay with Dewi and the makeshift family she had found. She had felt Dewi there, holding her, wanting her with him. She would always be grateful to Lady Arbor.

Taeva shoved Remyl’s hand away again when he once more tried to cover her mouth. “You… All because you…”

“Toff is my friend and he deserves to be happy.”

“His happiness is not your concern. The only concern…”

“Neak…” Sabelle walked into the room, her little stuffed wolf clutched in one arm and she was rubbing an eye with the other hand. She climbed onto the bed and lay next to Neak, snuggling close.

“What’s wrong, Puppy?” Neak brushed Sabelle’s hair back from her face.

“The yelling woke me.”

“Everything’s okay. Go back to sleep, I promise there won’t be anymore yelling.” She sighed when Sabelle looked at her, not quite believing her. “Have I broken any of my promises to you?”

“No, but…” Sabelle looked at the two others in the room. “Who are they?”

“Those are my great grandparents. They’ve come to visit.”

“Hi great granpies.” The pup pointed at Taeva. “She looks like you.”

“GiGi’s a Tree Nymph like me. Grampy is Lady Arbor’s son.”

“Is that like Toffie?”

“No… Well, sort of. Grampy’s a Divinity like Toff, but Toff is a Centaur while Grampy is a son of the Tree Goddess. He doesn’t have a horse.”

“Oh. Are Divinities like Dragons?”

“No. Dragons are just Dragons. Divinities are…different. Divinities help watch over the various villages and such with a lot of magick.”

Sabelle frowned, not quite understanding. She tightened her arms around her little wolf and then climbed onto Neak’s lap, curling up.

“Go to sleep, poppet. We’ll discuss it later over an ice cream sundae, I promise.”

“Okay.” Sabelle closed her eyes and soon was asleep.

Neak looked at her great grandparents. She kept her voice soft as she spoke, “This is Sabelle, Dewi’s niece.”

“Where are her parents?” Taeva stared at the pup.

“Her mother, Dewi’s sister, died last year of Lupine Disease and her father died the year before in a hunting accident; Sabelle was a year at the time of her father’s death.”

“I’m going to the kitchen to make tea.” Taeva turned and left the room. She had never been very good with tales of woe, especially since she had lost both her daughter and granddaughter to The Rot. That’s why she was so upset about Neak being blasted by Virgo; she didn’t want to lose more family.

“Careful of JoJo and Glynn, they’re rather territorial with regards to the kitchen,” Neak called out.

The elder Tree Nymph turned around. “Who are JoJo and Glynn?”

“They’re the Gnomes who work for Dewi and Oben; they cook for the pub patrons.”

“Pub patrons?”

“Didn’t I tell you the Tree is now a pub?”

Remyl jumped across the room and grabbed his mate and disappeared from the room before Taeva could start yelling and wake the pup.

“So who were your guests?” Oben stuck his head in the door.

“My great grandparents. Apparently they just learned about my accident.”

“Why’d they leave so suddenly?”

“Um, I think Grampy was trying to keep GiGi from waking up Sabelle with her yelling. They’re also just learning about Oak’s Holm’s new station.” Neak motioned Oben inside. “How are you doing? We haven’t had much of a chance to talk.”

He shrugged, but stayed where he was. “I’m all right, just trying to keep busy.”

“I…”

“It’s okay, Neak. I’m handling everything.”

“You know you can talk to me right?”

Oben nodded. “I’m just not ready to.” He looked over his shoulder. “I’m going for a run, you be good.”

Neak rolled her eyes. “How much trouble can I get into?”

“Knowing you, a whole hell of a lot.” He grinned and then ducked when Neak threw a pillow at him. “Be good.” He changed into a wolf and left.

Neak sighed and started picking up her cards, hoping she hadn’t lost any.

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